Almost Finally Home
by candidshot
Summary: Left alone, Klaus is off on a rampage in Europe until he's made to remember he has a home to return to - a home where Caroline waits for him. Prompted by S05ep01 title: 'Where You Left Your Heart'.


A thousand before, and even a thousand years from now, check any encyclopedia in any library and see what it says about Klaus.

' _Charming but doesn't go well with loneliness'_ , they will all most probably say.

In a back alley in a small old town, Klaus is coloured red and perfumed blood and even then, his hunger is nowhere near being quenched.

With no big brother he trusts around, and no little sister he can dote upon - and with the love of life miles and miles away, Klaus wallows in self-pity and blood.

It's after mid-night, somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00, his eyes amber but raging mad with an uncontrollable thirst closing in on his latest victim.

With her back against the wall of the building, she wails, pulling her feet to curl in to protect herself but Klaus, seems to have long lost the need to sympathise, to pity - to feel anything.

Until the wailing woman asks, "where did you leave your heart?"

Klaus retreats just a tiny bit. His eyes still yellow with anger and loneliness.

"Where you left your heart... tell me", the woman screams, pleads, desperate to live.

Klaus looks at her and he doesn't know why he pays her mind but he answers, "Mystic Falls".

His reply surprises him as much as his victim. "And what kind of place is Mystic Falls?"

"Feisty. Free. Bold and beautiful and sometimes noisy, but full of light".

Perhaps it's the tiny smile that draws itself in a soothing harmony on Klaus's lips but it somehow causes his victim to relax and share his smile. "Sounds complicated".

With his teeth red with blood, Klaus smiles, his eyes now becoming gentler as he relaxes, sitting back and resting on his elbow. "On the contrary, I think she's rather straightforward. Though, I suppose that's the thing between us; we're perhaps the only two people who understand each other".

"Are we still talking about Mystic Falls?" the woman asks, standing up with her back still against the wall, of course still searching for a way to escape.

But Klaus doesn't even seem that thirsty anymore, contented in the fold of memories, the smile from earlier never leaves his lips. "I suppose we could talk about Mystic Falls", he muses, "but I'm more incline to talk poetry-long Shakespearean poetry - odes that reach a deep place in my heart".

"So you like poetry? What's your favourite?"

Klaus lies flat on his back and laughs, looking into the night sky dotted with stars - a sky as magical and dreamy like, "Odes of Caroline Forbes".

"It sounds pretty".

Klaus turns over on his side, "Pretty is an understatement, an injustice. She's beautiful. Ethereal. Out of this world. She'll be the sweet death of me".

Somewhere along the conversation, the woman was no longer a victim but rather, a listening ear, an opportunity for Klaus to talk about his dream and his desire and to boast about the wonder star he loves - a star that's his beautiful-

"I see. So you left your heart with Caroline Forbes", the women finishes his thought. "Then you have to go back".

Klaus sits up and looks at her. "That's against the rules".

"Why so?"

"I made a promise to stay away and I'm a man of my word".

"Nonsense. She's expecting you".

"Why would you presume so?"

She shrugs and walks closer to him. "A woman's intuition. Besides, anyone this much adored by you is bound to have fallen in love with you".

Klaus stands up with excitement - very hopeful, "You really think so?"

"You have permission to come back and finish me if I'm wrong".

A few days later, Klaus shows up at the Mystic Falls town border - shows up to a sexy blonde waiting in tight skinny jeans, a summer blouse, a broad cowboy hat and lots of fiery adorable attitude - immediately snapping at him, "What took you so long?"

Klaus suddenly feels like all the life in the universe is flowing into him at the sight and smile of Caroline - her everything makes him whole and sensible and human again and it's true about what those old encyclopedias also say, _true love never dies._

So he walks up and crosses the town border, sharing with her a tender smile that could last all eternity as he whispers her name like a sacred hymn. "Hello, Caroline", an ode created especially for her.

"Klaus...", she smiles back, all radiant and sunny with her perfect self. "Welcome back home".

Without moving, he looks her in the eye, smiles and replies. "I hardly consider Mystic Falls home, Love".

"I know", she walks up to take his arms and wraps them around her. "I meant, welcome back to me".

~ almost finally home  
klaus x caroline


End file.
